Proverbs 21:5

The plans of the diligent ¹  lead ²  only to plenty, ³  but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. ⁴ 

The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.

Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run; hurry and scurry puts you further behind.

The purposes of the man of industry have their outcome only in wealth; but one who is over-quick in acting will only come to be in need.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.

The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty, But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.

The plans of the diligent ¹  lead ²  only to plenty, ³  but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. ⁴ 

¹ tn The word “diligent” is an adjective used substantivally. The related verb means “to cut, sharpen, decide”; so the adjective describes one who is “sharp” – one who acts decisively. The word “hasty” has the idea of being pressed or pressured into quick actions. So the text contrasts calculated expeditiousness with unproductive haste. C. H. Toy does not like this contrast, and so proposes changing the latter to “lazy” (Proverbs [ICC], 399), but W. McKane rightly criticizes that as unnecessarily forming a pedestrian antithesis (Proverbs [OTL], 550).

² tn The term “lead” is supplied in the translation.

³ tn The Hebrew noun translated “plenty” comes from the verb יָתַר (yatar), which means “to remain over.” So the calculated diligence will lead to abundance, prosperity.

⁴ tn Heb “lack; need; thing needed”; NRSV “to want.”